NUKAHI W A. 
that he had conduced himfelf well; and he offered me his 
fervice, which I readily accepted, being glad to procure 
lo good an interpreter, by whole affiftance I hoped to ob¬ 
tain i'ome particular information upon this almoft un¬ 
known illand. This Englilhman, whofe name was Ro¬ 
berts, told us that he had been feven years upon the illand, 
and two years previoully in that of Santa Chriftina; that 
he had been put on-(hore on the latter, out of an Engliffi 
merchant-lhip, the crew of which had mutinied againft 
their captain, and could not prevail upon him to join 
their party; and in Nukahiwa he had lately married a re¬ 
lation of the king’s, by which he acquired great confi- 
deration; lo that it would be very eafy for him to be of 
affiftance to us. We had fcarcely let go our anchor, when 
the Ihip was furrounded by feveral hundred of the inha¬ 
bitants, who brought cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, and ba¬ 
nanas, for fale. The only things we could give them in 
exchange were pieces of old iron hoops, four or five inches 
long, with which I had fupplied both Ihips for this pur- 
pofe while we lay at Cronftadt. Such a piece was ufually 
the price of five cocoa-nuts, and three or four of the 
bread-fruit; but, though they feemed to let a very high 
value on thefe, axes and hatchets were the chief objefts 
of their willies. They Ihowed a childifh joy on receiving 
even a fmall piece of iron-hoop, and ufually evinced their 
fatisfaftion by a loud laugh, difplaying their newly-ac¬ 
quired riches with an air of triumph to their lefs fortu¬ 
nate companions, who fwam round the ftiip. At four in 
the afternoon, the king and his Ante came on-board. His 
name was Tapega Kettenowee. He was a very ftrong 
well-made man, with a thick and extremely fat neck, 
from forty to forty-five years of age. His body was ta- 
tooed with a dark colour approaching to black, fo com¬ 
pletely, that it even extended to fpots on his head from 
which the hair had been cut away. He was in no wife to 
be diftinguilhed from the lowed: of his fubjefts; being, 
with the exception of the tfcliiabu, or girdle, entirely 
naked. I led him to my cabin, and gave him a knife, and 
a piece of red cloth aboyt twenty ells long, which he im¬ 
mediately bound round his loins. To his fuite, confin¬ 
ing chiefly of his relations, I alfo made fome prefents ; 
although Roberts advifed me not to be fo generous, tell¬ 
ing me that not one of them, not even the king, would 
ever make me any return for them. At fun-let all the 
men, without exception, went on-fliore; but about 100 
of the females ftill remained near the Ihip, round which 
they had been fwimming during five hours. In this time, 
they had made ufe of every art in their power to declare 
the objedt of their vifit, nor could they doubt that their 
willies were underftood, fince neither their pantomime 
nor their attitudes could be miftaken. This debalement 
of the female fex is lefs occafioned by levity or ungo¬ 
vernable paffion in them, than by their duty to the unna¬ 
tural and tyrannical orders of their hulbands and fathers, 
who lent off their wives and daughters to procure fmall 
pieces of iron and other trifles, and in the morning were 
feen lwimming out to meet them, and take pofleffion of 
the treafures which they had obtained.” 
Next morning, captain K. had the honour of a vifit 
from the whole royal family, females as well as males. 
When he took them into his cabin, they were wonderfully 
pleafed with the fight of a painting of his wife; and ftill 
more with a large mirror, in which they were able to view 
their perfons at full-length, and which caught the king’s 
fancy fo much, that, in every fubfequent vifit, he immedi¬ 
ately repaired to the cabin, and flood before the glafs for 
whole hours. On the fecond day, the captain went on- 
ftiore, accompanied by the ambaflador. by moft of his offi¬ 
cers, and by a well-armed efcort. They W'ere received by 
a large concourfe of people of both fexes; and, on en¬ 
tering the royal dwelling, Capt. Krufenftern fat down 
among the females, who examined his hands, his clothes, 
his hat, the embroidery of his uniform, &c. with much 
curiofity. Mats being fpread, a repaft of cocoa-nuts and 
bananas, with water, was put before them; and, as a far- 
Vol. XVII. No. 1177. 
28 i) 
ther proof of friendffiip, affiftance was given by the na¬ 
tives to the failors who were employed in replenilhing the 
water-calks. 
“ The Nukahiwers are invariably of a large ftature, and 
well-made ; they are very mufcular, with a long handfome 
neck; have a great regularity of countenance, and an air 
of real goodnefs, which was not belied by their dealings 
with us; but, when we confider the cruelties of which 
thefe men are capable, the prejudice in their favour, which 
the beauty of their perlon is very likely to create, loon va- 
nifhes, and their countenance leems to indicate nothing 
but apathy. An animated eye none of them poflefs. Ey 
tatooing their bodies very much, and rubbing them with 
a dark colour, they acquire a black appearance; other- 
wile, their natural colour is clear, at leaft that of the boys 
and women, who are not tatooed, was fo ; nor do they 
differ very much from the colour of Europeans, being 
only rather more yellow. Thefe illanders are belides in 
the enviable pofleffion of the moft conftant health; they 
have hitherto been fo fortunate as to efcape the venereal 
difeafe ; and, as they are free from complaint, fo they are 
ignorant of all medicine. Among the very handfome 
people of this illand, we obferved two in particular, who 
• excited the admiration of us all. The one was a great 
warrior of Tayo Hoae, and at the fame time, what, in the 
language of the country, is called Fire-lighter to the 
king ; his name was Mau-ha-u, and he was perhaps one 
of the handfomeft men that ever exifted ; he was fix feet 
two inches high, and every part of his body perfeftly beau¬ 
tiful. The other was Bauting, king of the Vale of Sche- 
gua, who, notvvithftanding his age, for he certainly was 
not lefs than fifty, was ftill extremely handfome.” The 
paradoxical account of the beauty of the men and the ug- 
linefs of the women, has been particularly noticed under 
the article Marquesas, vol. xiv. p.401. 
It is a curious fa ft in the ftate of ibciety among thefe 
favages, that their chief or king (as voyagers choofe to 
call him) poffefles very little authority. In war, he may 
have a kind of command; but, from the infulated nature 
of the operations of thefe people, it is probably of a very 
limited nature. The want of controul in the executive 
power prevents juftice from being adminiftered ; fo that, 
in this ltrange community, ftealing not only goes um>u- 
nilhed, but forms a matter of boaft. Murder alone brings 
down vengeance on the perpetrator; not however by the 
power, or in the name of, the fociety, but from the rela¬ 
tions of the fiain, who are determined on having blood 
for blood. The priefts poflefs great influence over thefe 
iflanders ; and are accounted the only perfons capable of 
giving effeft to thofe charms, of the potency of which 
the belief is univerfal among them. To calculate the po^ 
pulation of the illand of Nukahiwa, which is upwards of 
fixty miles in circumference, was no eafy matter; but 
Capt. K. eftimates it at 12,000. They are divided into 
feveral tribes, under their refpeftive chiefs, and are accuf- 
tomed to make war on each other in the moft difgufting' 
manner. “ They leldom meet in large parties in the 
field ; but their ufual mode of warfare is, to be conftantly 
watching for, and fecretly feeking to butcher, their prey, 
which they devour on the fpot. I-Ie who evinces the 
greateft fkill in thefe arts, who can lie the longeft on his 
belly perfectly motionlefs, who can breathe the lowelt, run 
the fwifteft, and fpriffg with the greateft agility from one 
precipice to another, acquires no lefs reputation amorm 
his comrades than the brave and powerful Mau-ha-u, 
Their arms confift of clubs, fpears, and flings. The clubs 
are about five feet long, of cafuarina-wood, beautifully 
polilhed, and very malfy, not weighing lefs than ten 
pounds ; and at their extremity is a carved human head. 
The fpears are of the fame wood, ten or twelve feet long, 
about an inch thick in the middle, and ftiarp at each end. 
Their flings are Amply a woven band, broad and flat in the 
middle, to admit the ftone. 
“ The two Europeans whom we found here, a French¬ 
man and an Englilhman, and who had both refided with 
4 E » them 
